1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, or a multi-function peripheral (MFP), a removable device and a developer container that are removably installed therein, and an information storage device installed therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a technique of removably installing a removable device such as a developer container (a toner bottle, a toner storage container, or an ink cartridge) or a process cartridge on an image forming apparatus body has been usually used (for example, Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-69417, Patent Literature 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-209060, and Patent Literature 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-196629).
In the removable device, an information storage device (an information recording unit or a non-volatile memory) such as an ID chip storing information to be exchanged with the image forming apparatus body is installed. In a state in which the removable device is set to the image forming apparatus body, information (for example, information such as manufacturing year, month, and date of the removable device, a manufacturing lot number, or a color of toner, or a kind of toner) stored in the information storage device is transmitted to a control unit of the image forming apparatus body, or information (information such as a use history of the image forming apparatus) is transmitted from the image forming apparatus body to the information storage device, so that fulfilling quality control of the image forming apparatus body and the removable device is performed.
Patent Literature 1 discloses a contact-type information storage device (an information recording unit). Specifically, in the contact-type information storage device (an ID chip), when the removable device (a toner storage container) is set to the image forming apparatus body, a metal pad (a terminal) comes in contact with a body side terminal of a connector installed in the image forming apparatus body. As a result, information can be exchanged between the information storage device of the removable device and the control unit (the body side information recording unit) of the image forming apparatus.
Further, a feeding opening for allowing the stored toner to flow out to the outside is installed in the developer container. The opening needs remain closed until it is loaded onto a developing device so as to prevent the toner from being scattered or leaking.
As a configuration for achieving the above desire, there has been suggested a configuration in which a shutter for opening/closing the opening installed in the developer container is installed. Further, as a configuration of the shutter, there has been suggested a configuration in which a flat plate-like shutter that is movable in a direction traversing the toner and an outlet is installed (For example, Patent Literature 4: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2010-066638).
However, the conventional techniques described above have the following problems.
As a first problem, the conventional contact-type information storage device may electrically get damaged since an electric circuit of the information storage device is not sufficiently earthed and so becomes an electrically floating state when the removable device is attached to or removed from the device body.
There is a need to solve the first problem described above and provides an information storage device, a removable device, a developer container, and an image forming apparatus in which electrical damage is difficult to occur in the information storage device even when the contact-type information storage device is installed in the removable device removably installed in the image forming apparatus body.
As a second problem, in the conventional contact-type information storage device, there may occur a problem in that contact sections thereof are misaligned (a contact failure) due to wrong positioning of the terminal (metal pad) installed in the information storage device and the terminal of the image forming apparatus body. Particularly, when the terminal of the information storage device is small, the problem becomes important.
There is a need to solve the second problem described above and provides a removable device, a developer container, and an image forming apparatus in which a contact failure caused by a positioning failure with the body side terminal of the connector of the image forming apparatus body is difficult to occur even when the contact-type information storage device is installed in the removable device removably installed in the image forming apparatus body.
A third problem is as follows. In recent years, toner having a small particle diameter has been used so as to improve the resolution. Improving a filter function so as to cope with using the toner may increase the material or processing cost. That is, when a foamable material is used, it is necessary to prescribe mesh fineness that does not let the toner through, a so-call foaming degree, but as mesh fineness increases, flexibility tends to decrease. This tendency may be difficult to go along with movement of the shutter, and a sealing characteristic may get worse.
There is a need to improve a shutter mechanism of the conventional toner feeding device to provide a developer storage container and an image forming apparatus which have a configuration capable of reliably preventing the toner from leaking from the developer storage container that is replaced by an attaching/detaching operation at a low cost.